Cementitious materials such as, for example, concrete are used in a wide variety of building applications. Cementitious materials may be used in applications involving contact with running or rising water such as, for example, locations on or near coastlines or areas subject to flooding. These locations may experience erosion such as, for example, the erosion of soil and erosion that affects the integrity of structural substructures.
One patent application that describes cementitious materials that may be used in applications involving fluid such as flooding water is U.S. Patent Application No. 2013/0098271 (the '271 patent application) to Eberwein et al., published on Apr. 25, 2013. The '271 patent application discloses dry mortar mixtures including copolymers that absorb water during hydration to optimize water-cement values. The copolymers of the '271 patent application contribute to a sufficiently high water absorption capacity in aqueous systems being attained such as, for example, in the hydraulic setting of a cementitious mixture. However, the copolymers of the cementitious material of the '271 patent application apparently absorb significant water only during hydration. Therefore, the '271 patent application does not disclose a material that may absorb and re-absorb liquid such as, for example, water during conditions such as flooding. Therefore, the copolymers included in the cementitious materials disclosed in the '271 patent application do not provide additional protection for mitigating erosion at a location subject to flooding.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.